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 Located a few miles
southeast of Reedy
Lake, Lake Arbuckle WMA consists of
13,531 acres east of Avon Park in Polk County 5
miles south of Frostproof. It
actually connects to Reedy via a shallow creek
that is seldom navigable. Like Reedy, it too,
offers dark water, but that is where the
similarities end.
If finding bass during the
spring is simplified on Lake Reedy, it is even
easier on Lake Arbuckle. This is a shallow,
bowl-shaped lake with only a few spots dropping
to more then 12 feet. Very little offshore structure
exists, but there is a large littoral zone
loaded with lily pads and bulrush. There's will
always some bass on the outer portion of the shallow
vegetation. This lake is good every season of
the year, because of it's feeding areas. During the spring, it's the doorway to
shallow spawning,
which makes this lake pretty simple like a lot of
Florida lakes.
Bass begin to spawn on Arbuckle
in January and are normally finished by early
April. Given the water clarity, which is even
darker than Reedy Lake, those bass spawn very
shallow in 2 1/2 feet or less of water. Before
they actually move onto the beds, however, they
can stack up on that outer weed line. And they
have definite preferences as to what areas they
want to stage on.
The first thing I look
for on this lake is a point
of bulrush extending out from the main weed
line,
and that has a bunch of pads just inside the
point. This combination of bulrush and pads
seems to be a magnet for Arbuckle bass. Through
Florida this pattern will work during the entire spawning period and even well into
the summer. Even when the bass are spawning on
the inside shallows, there will be bass coming
and going on these points. Concentrating on this
cover, especially during the morning hours, is
the surest way to find bass on almost any
Florida lake.
Unfortunately, finding them and
getting them into the boat can be two entirely
different matters. Hooking one of the Florida big bass
is another thing, this lake is know to have
trophy bass up to 15-pound in recent years. To tangle
with a "hawg" like that in pad
roots requires some serious tackle. Normally
we can toss topwater plugs
and crankbaits along cover edges with great
success. Swiming
worms, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits through the
pads, a great way to catch big fish and quite
exciting also.
We seldom throw a worms smaller
than 8 inches on this lake and 10" & 12"
inches isn't too big. If the outer cover doesn't
produce, especially during an afternoon on a
warming trend, move inside to look for
bedding fish. Again, there is a key cover area.
Even in that
extremely shallow water, bass are very difficult
to spot on a bed before you get close enough to
spook them off. The best you can expect is to
see is a light-colored spot, and maybe some
water movement as a bass patrols the bed. Savvy
anglers sight-cast those targets with lizards
or plastic worms, smaller worms can sometimes
out produce larger lures.
The best access to Arbuckle is
from the Polk County Parks and Recreation
Department boat ramp on the north end of the
lake off Arbuckle Road. It is free to use and
easily handles the largest bass boat.
Lake Arbuckle
History
Part of the Lake Wales Ridge State Forest area was
purchased to protect numerous rare and
endangered plants and animals. Arbuckle occupies
a high ridge of ancient sand dunes and contains
fast disappearing pine and oak scrub, home to
Florida scrub-jays and
gopher tortoises. Other natural communities
include pine flatwoods, sandhill, and bottomland
hardwoods along streams and creeks. Lake
Arbuckle, where fishing and canoeing may be
enjoyed year round, adjoins the area. The area
offers very good deer hunting. On the area is a
.8-mile nature trail as well as a segment of the
Florida Trail. Horseback riding is allowed
on firebreaks, named or numbered roads or
designated horse trails. Horses are prohibited
on hiking trails and during established hunting
seasons. Arbuckle WMA is part of the
Great Florida Birding Trail.
Scrub-jays inhabit the oak scrub along the
road into the area.
Short-tailed hawks may be observed on the
Paula Dockery Trail, and at Lake Arbuckle are
wading birds,
bald eagles,
limpkins, and
ospreys. Camping is permitted at the
designated campground off Rucks Dairy Road, and
at designated campsites along the Florida Trail
and at other sites by Special-Use Permit issued
by the Division of Forestry. The Division of
Forestry regulates camping and a daily fee is
required per campsite. For information, call the
Lake Wales Ridge State Forest at (863) 635-7801.
LAKE ARBUCKLE
Boat Ramp:
On the north end
of the lake, boat access is on Lake Arbuckle
Road off North Lake Reedy Boulevard, south of CR
630, east of Frostproof very limited bank
fishing.
Additional links,,
http://www.floridaconservation.org/recreation/cooperative/arbuckle.asp
http://www.fl-dof.com/state_forests/lake_wales_ridge.html
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